BN_new(3) OpenSSL BN_new(3)NAME
BN_new, BN_init, BN_clear, BN_free, BN_clear_free - allocate and free
BIGNUMs
SYNOPSIS
#include <openssl/bn.h>
BIGNUM *BN_new(void);
void BN_init(BIGNUM *);
void BN_clear(BIGNUM *a);
void BN_free(BIGNUM *a);
void BN_clear_free(BIGNUM *a);
DESCRIPTIONBN_new() allocated and initializes a BIGNUM structure. BN_init() ini‐
tializes an existing uninitialized BIGNUM.
BN_clear() is used to destroy sensitive data such as keys when they are
no longer needed. It erases the memory used by a and sets it to the
value 0.
BN_free() frees the components of the BIGNUM, and if it was created by
BN_new(), also the structure itself. BN_clear_free() additionally over‐
writes the data before the memory is returned to the system.
RETURN VALUESBN_new() returns a pointer to the BIGNUM. If the allocation fails, it
returns NULL and sets an error code that can be obtained by
ERR_get_error(3).
BN_init(), BN_clear(), BN_free() and BN_clear_free() have no return
values.
SEE ALSObn(3), ERR_get_error(3)HISTORYBN_new(), BN_clear(), BN_free() and BN_clear_free() are available in
all versions on SSLeay and OpenSSL. BN_init() was added in SSLeay
0.9.1b.
0.9.7d 2003-11-20 BN_new(3)